Mexico's Zapatistas Warn Chiapas Is on "the Verge of Civil War"

In a statement signed by 1,000 leading figures, including Noam Chomsky and Diego Luna, the EZLN say that they are coming under attack from paramilitary groups, who act with the ‘passive and active complicity’ of the authorities

By Alejandro Santos Cid
June 3, 2023 Z Article
6 Mins Read

On May 22, Jorge López Santíz was hit by a bullet. It was an attack that also hit the heart of Mexico’s Zapatista Movement, the far-left group that controls territory in the southern state of Chiapas.

López Santíz was injured in a paramilitary attack against the Moisés Gandhi community, which is part of the Lucio Cabañas municipality controlled by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). The aggression appears to have been the final straw for the Zapatistas, which has said enough is enough.

The group — which for years has been hesitant about public announcements — has denounced the rise in violence in Chiapas, and called an international day of protest on June 8.

Contrary to tradition, the announcement was not made via a press release from Subcomandante Galeano — the man behind the ski mask who has symbolized the movement since he went public in 1994 under the nom de guerre Subcomandante Marcos. Instead, the Zapatistas issued a statement that was signed by more than 800 international organizations and more than 1,000 leading political and cultural figures, including U.S. intellectual Noam Chomsky; actors Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Daniel Giménez Cacho; director Alfonso Cuarón; and writers Guadalupe Nettel and Gabriela Jáuregui.

The statement in support of the Zapatistas calls out the rise of paramilitary attacks against the autonomous community, and the impunity with which they are met by both the state and federal government. To protest the violence, the Zapatistas have organized a demonstration in Mexico City, as well as other actions.

More:
https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mexicos-zapatistas-warn-chiapas-is-on-the-verge-of-civil-war/